Should I do Repairs in a Rented Apartment?﻿

Hello darlings, trust you are having a good day?

Please if you left a comment on the Giveaway post shared yesterday, kindly do so again. I actually woke up to comments and I approved all of them only to find out none was posted. They all disappeared, to be honest…and the sad part was that I did not even read through all to know who sent what, I only peeped a few. So please leave your comments again.

So the other day, I was having a chit chat with big sis and she was concerned about some home repairs that needs fixing. I told her to tell the landlord who she said she has told numerous times but failed to complied. She has however resolved to fix it with her own cash.

The Ijebu*-side in me (my Ijebu sisters and brothers, no vex) was like but why should I repair another man’s house for him and I expressed this to my sis who went ahead to tell me the story of a woman who moved into a new house with an open sewage pit. She kept telling the house owner to send handymen to come and cover it but he refused. She choose not to fix it too with her money. Unfortunately, her little daughter played and slipped into this pit one day and before any one could locate where she was, she had died in there.

Quite pathetic.

After hearing this story, I was speechless.

I then thought to myself that I would never go that far. However, I believed you can never say never until it happens…

Being a tenant that needs to fix repairs from your pocket can sometimes be annoying but then it’s your home for the period you are in there.

When people visit and see the extent of the damage, it is still you they’d look down on and judge not the landlord. I personally will wonder why someone would continue to live in ruins and not fix it or move out.

If it’s something you can afford, why not do it. Otherwise, you fix and deduct from your next rent if you intend staying in such house longer after you must have informed the landlord about it.

I used to stay with some people who had a broken pipe in their room. Rather than repair, they choose to move out of the house and get somewhere else. I was shocked at the extent at which people can go. And I wonder what if the house is theirs??

Do people even think for a moment that one day, they’d own a house and let out to people. And it’s not every time they’d be at their house occupant’s beck and call to correct default.

I feel everyone should handle other’s property as theirs. I know some will say only if you know my landlord…Yes I know some landlords can really be a pain in the ass and damn annoying, and I say, if your landlord is the meanest and someone who is less appreciative, then move out to somewhere more comfortable for you…Don’t wait until the damage become a harm to you.

Have you ever been in this situation? What did you do? And what would you advise others do? I love to hear from you, join the discussion.

Cheers!

*Ijebu- are Ijebu speaking people from the South Central part of Nigeria. They are actually tagged as the ‘stingy part’ in Nigeria.

13 Comments

Morolayo

January 10, 2017 / 7:21 pm

I can so relate to this. I remember many years ago while we lived in a rented apartment, we had neighbors but terrible ones. It was a four wings storey building and so you can imagine. We lived downstairs and so my mum always did the sweeping and all. Several times we joined her too, especially during environmental sanitation. The people who lived up never came down to do anything, especially one annoying fat woman, their excuse was “we live up here and we don’t dirty or have anything to do with downstairs”. I was always mad at my mum, told her to quit doing most of these chores, afterall it’s not OUR house, I was a little girl, very naive and so I never understood. My mum always said” whatever you do now will always follow you, when you eventually get to your house, it wouldn’t be a burden, especially for a female “. I never understood. Fast forward to now, I can only thank God. I agree it can be extremely annoying but God will repay you.. Now we enjoy the blessings. That annoying fat woman later saw my mum in a function and needed her help but could not approach cos of guilty conscience, see? That’s life. Do good always, regardless.

Well, it depends. If it’s fittings that would serve you for during your stayy, I would say repair it.
However, as to fixtures when there is no clear cut contract binding the landlord to repay you for such expense; I wouldnt fix such o!
That is why it is better to have a binding contract with the landlord, so both parties know their roles.

It can be pretty annoying. I was in this kind of situation recently when my wc had problems and my landlord in school was nowhere to be found. I later fixed it myself because it wasn’t so expensive. If it was, I’d definitely not have done it. The story about that little girl is really sad. Happy New Year.http://Www.laitanbee.com

Well, I think that sometimes landlords are fully aware of damages in their rented houses but will never attempt to get them fixed, but if you want your comfort I think you should take care of the damages yourself provided you have the money by agreement and deduct from rent or you can simply find a better place to move into.

Well. I will always fix the repairs in whatever rented apartment I live in as I have learnt this from my dad.. But then there could he delays in doing somethings. For instance, when u move into a new house, its not to meet some parts of the house needing a few repairs be it a new house or an old house, in a case like this , I talk to the landlord to come fix since I m juat moving in and its expected that everything shd be in a proper working condition but after this time, any further repairs needed would have been as a result of me living in d house, so why won’t I fix it. If I don’t, na me go still suffer am no be landlord .. Life is easy, its humans that tend to make it hard….